Mississippi Today newspaper: on Health Care

Jim Hood: Sue drug companies for over-charging Medicaid

Hood contends the companies' scheme involves false representations, made by the defendants to the state, that their National Drug Codes, or NDCs, are FDA approved and eligible for Medicaid reimbursement. "The State directly relies on these representations in approving the reimbursement for providers of prescription drugs," the Hood explained. "Defendants marketed these unapproved drugs to healthcare providers as being Covered Outpatient Drugs (or CODs), and therefore reimbursable by the State," resulting in increased market share and profits for the companies while essentially leaving the state in a lurch. In 2011, for example, the state Medicaid program forked out about $551 million on prescription drugs, according to the Attorney General's Office.